As soon as his order was given, soldiers surrounded Thalia.
The sound of limping footsteps gradually faded away. Barcas, who had been listening intently, collapsed onto the bed as the door slammed shut.
It felt as if every muscle, bone, and nerve in his body had been torn to shreds and crushed.
He lifted his face, wet with cold sweat, and stared blankly at the ceiling as darkness descended. He then covered his eyes with the back of his hand.
***
Even after regaining consciousness, he remained confined to his bed for two days. The poison had spread to his nerves, making it impossible for him to even stand properly.
After three days, Barcas, who had regained enough strength to walk without any problems, appeared at the meeting hall in perfect formality as if nothing had happened.
"I'm sorry for causing you concern."
Barcas, with his usual reserved manners, walked to the head of the long table and gave a formal speech.
The attendants, who had been frozen with bewildered faces as if they had not expected him to attend, quickly rose from their seats.
"Your Excellency, is it all right for you to return to work? You should still focus on your recovery..."
"As you can see, it's fine."
Barcas, who had responded dryly, sat down on his chair and nodded.
"Everyone, sit down. We've got a lot of work to do."
Those who had been looking at him with a mixture of worry and concern began to sit down one by one. Barcas lowered his gaze to the map spread out on the table.
Red lines were drawn in a jumbled pattern throughout the area, suggesting possible hiding places. It seemed as if they had been trying to track down the Zrams group while he was unconscious.
"Has there been any progress in the search?"
"We found a few caves that were being used as armories, but nothing major."
Edgar, the squad leader of Wolfram's cavalry, answered in a bitter voice.
"It seemed like all the major equipment had already been moved. All that was left were worn-out Gambesons and missing Falxes. There seemed to be no clues left behind to track the enemy."
"Those who had been cooperating with them also took advantage of the commotion and disappeared without a trace."
The middle-aged knight sitting at the center left of the conference room table suddenly opened his mouth.
"We rounded up and interrogated all the heretics who had not yet escaped, but no useful information was obtained. It seems that the lower-ranking believers were unaware that their superiors were colluding with the raiders."
The man let out a heavy sigh.
"The clues we had finally caught have been completely cut off."
"It's not completely gone."
Everyone's eyes were drawn to the calm, rising voice.
Modrian, who was serving as a military advisor, was looking straight at Barcas with heavy, sunken eyes.
"Isn't there still one person left who might have colluded with the looters? And she's very close to them."
For a moment, the air in the conference room froze.
The knight's direct words caused the vassals to swallow dryly, and all turned to Barcas. He had a blank expression on his face, as if he had expected this kind of attack to continue.
"I really wonder who that refers to."
“Isn’t Your will the one who knows better than anyone else?”
Modrian responded calmly, resting his elbows on the table and letting out a long breath.
"Just after Her Highness, the Grand Duchess, attempted to poison you, thugs infiltrated the castle. They even knew the internal layout of Raedgo Castle, down to the guard positions. This couldn't be a mere coincidence. Her Highness must have enlisted their cooperation..."
"You seem to have forgotten that the person you are referring to is my wife, the Princess of this empire."
Barcas cut the old knight off with a dry voice.
"Does the position seem so light that you can conclude guilt based solely on conjecture without any clear evidence?"
"Why is there no evidence? Her Highness the Grand Duchess herself confessed to poisoning Your Excellency's glass. Strictly speaking, she is the red-handed criminal! What more evidence do you need?"
The cavalry captain shouted in an excited voice.
Barcas glared at him with cold eyes.
"She said she saw medicine, but she never explicitly said it was poison."
"Don't nitpick like that..."
"I repeat, my wife never confessed to trying to poison me."
The man flinched and closed his mouth, as if reading the ominous warning in his voice. Barcas, after looking around the room, added mechanically.
"She simply prepared a drink containing a restorative for her husband before I left for battle. It's entirely possible someone switched it. Therefore, the confession you speak of is ineffective as conclusive evidence."
"Such absurd...!"
The man pursed his lips in a look of amazement. Modrian, who had been watching the scuffle between them, looked at him with dark eyes.
"If Her Highness the Grand Duchess is innocent, why didn't she actively explain herself? Throughout the interrogation, she never once defended herself."
"Even if she explained it, would you have listened?"
The corners of Barcas' mouth twisted cynically.
"My wife is not so pathetic as to make excuses in front of those who have already convicted her and are determined to drag her to the guillotine."
A deep bewilderment appeared on the faces of his retainers, as if they hadn't expected him to so blatantly defend the Grand Duchess. Some even looked at him as if he were completely insane.
It was understandable. In their eyes, he would appear to be a womanizing fool, unable to discern right from wrong.
Perhaps it wasn't all that different. Even Barcas himself found it bizarre how blindly he protected the woman who had driven him to the brink of death.
"Then, may I have your permission to investigate the person of Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess?"
Modrian, who had been looking at him with a thoughtful look for a long time, broke the heavy silence.
"If Her Highness the Grand Duchess is innocent, there would be no reason for her to refuse this."
"Haven't you already detained my wife and are interrogating and investigating her?"
Barcas pointed out in a sharp tone.
"Are you saying you'll do more than that?"
"I intend to closely investigate those around Her Highness, especially those who know that Her Highness has decided to treat you to a 'special drink' that night."
Modrian explained calmly.
"If, as Your Excellency says, Her Highness the Grand Duchess did not cooperate with the enemies, then it must mean that someone else around Her Highness is a corporation."
Instead of saying that he had already begun the investigation, Barcas nodded with a blank expression.
It was decided that the best course of action for now was to direct their suspicions elsewhere, away from her.
"But, we shouldn't make too much of a fuss. If there's someone in this castle who's collaborating with the enemy, they might be able to escape the search."
Perhaps because he thought it was reasonable, the old knight nodded and brought up the next agenda.
Realizing that he had effectively reduced the intensity of the suspicion directed at her, Barcas relaxed his grip on his fist, which had been clenched so tightly that blood was not flowing.
Thin cramps still occurred throughout his body, which had not fully healed.
He thought there might be permanent aftereffects. Aghor's venom corrodes the organs.
It was a lethal substance that paralyzed the nerves throughout the body. It was nothing short of a miracle that he had recovered so much strength in just ten days.
For the first time in his life, he was grateful for his extraordinary resilience. Had he never opened his eyes, the image of Thalia, haggard and dragged into his bedroom, would have burned into his retina like a seam. The image of her being hanged on the gallows by his enraged compatriots flashed through his mind, and a cold sweat soaked his spine.
Barcas quickly shook off the unpleasant thought and stood up.
"I think we've covered all the important matters. I'll take my leave now."
He gestured to stop the vassals who were trying to stand up after him, then slowly left the meeting hall.
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